I read in the newspaper today that the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that it's not unconstitutional to have a prayer or invocation at the start of city council meetings. It got me to thinking how silly these prayers must be. Constitutional or not, do we really feel that we need the creator of the universe's blessing before conducting whatever government business is at hand? Does anyone honestly believe that the creator of the universe cares about your stupid meeting, but disregards the truly needy and victims of crime, war, disease, etc. Isn't this the height of childish, narcissistic thinking? The argument that we should continue with these silly procedures to start our meetings is that there is a long tradition in our society to have these invocations? Really? So what? Do we really think it's a good idea to propagate this notion that we are somehow favored by the creator of the universe? Doesn't this idea provide the justification that religious fundamentalists use to commit their crazy acts of discrimination and violence? Why not just start the meeting, and admit that as adult human beings, we can find reasons to be kind to one another and enact wise public policy without the help of an invisible friend.

(07-05-2014 07:15 AM)davidh Wrote: I read in the newspaper today that the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that it's not unconstitutional to have a prayer or invocation at the start of city council meetings. It got me to thinking how silly these prayers must be. Constitutional or not, do we really feel that we need the creator of the universe's blessing before conducting whatever government business is at hand? Does anyone honestly believe that the creator of the universe cares about your stupid meeting, but disregards the truly needy and victims of crime, war, disease, etc. Isn't this the height of childish, narcissistic thinking? The argument that we should continue with these silly procedures to start our meetings is that there is a long tradition in our society to have these invocations? Really? So what? Do we really think it's a good idea to propagate this notion that we are somehow favored by the creator of the universe? Doesn't this idea provide the justification that religious fundamentalists use to commit their crazy acts of discrimination and violence? Why not just start the meeting, and admit that as adult human beings, we can find reasons to be kind to one another and enact wise public policy without the help of an invisible friend.

It just goes to show that we have a long way to go, and that mass delusion, even now, is alive and well in the US.

Help to get money out of politics by getting a convention to amend the Constitution itself, fuck Congress and the Supreme Court. Take back our democracy at the local level and bypass the corrupt federal bureaucracy.